Railroad-tie.



PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

W. W.'F0WLBR.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, 1904.

NO MODEL.

Wlbwkii Inventor I Httomegs Witnesses UNITED STATES Patented December20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

RAILROAD-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,782, dated December20, 1904. Application filed July 25, 1904. 7 Serial No. 218,173.

To FLZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LWVILLIAM WILBURT Fow- LER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Millersburg, in the county of Holmes and State ofOhio, have invented a new and useful Railroad-Tie, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad-ties, and has for its object toproduce a simply-constructed and efiicient device of this characterwhereby the strength and durability are increased and means provided forfirmly clamping the rails to the ties without spikes, bolts, or othersimilar fastening means.

With these and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature ofthe invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novelfeatures of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed. 7

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters,is illustrated the preferred form of the embodiment of the inventioncapable of carrying the same into practical operation, it beingunderstood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, asvarious changes in the shape, proportions, and general assemblage of theparts may be resorted to without departing from the principle of theinvention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

In the drawings thus employed, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection. Fig. 2 is a plan view with the guard or shield removed. Fig. 3is an enlarged transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The improved tie and all of its attachments are of metal, preferably ofsteel, and may be cast, forged, pressed, or otherwise produced, as maybe found most advantageous.

The improved device comprises a body portion 10, having a flat lowersurface for resting upon the ballast or road-bed and provided withupwardly-extending side ribs 11 12, the ribs having longitudinalchannels 13 14 in their inner faces throughout the entire length. Formedtransversely of the ribs are spaced recesses 15 16 for receiving therails 17 18, the rails thus resting directly upon the body portion 10.The ends of the ribs 11 12 forming, the outer ends of the rail-recessesare u ndercut, as at 19 20, to overlap the outer edges of thetie-flanges of the rails to prevent upward movement to the outer sidesof the rails.

Slidably disposed in the channel formed by the ribs 11 12 areclamp-blocks 21 22, formed to overhang the inner edges of the feet ofthe rails and bear against the vertical webs of the rails, the blockshaving side pins 23 24 for engaging the grooves in the ribs. The blocks21 22 are also provided with reversely-threaded recesses 25 26 forreceiving the correspondingly reversely threaded ends of a rod 27, whichthus connects the blocks. The rod is provided with a square centralportion 28 to receive a wrench for rotating the rod. By this simplearrangement it will be obvious that the rails may be firmly clamped tothe tie structure and prevented from overturning or being otherwisedisplaced no matter what strains may be transmitted thereto. It willalso be noted that all holding spikes, bolts, and similar holding meansare dispensed with and dependence placed entirely upon the clamp-blocksand threaded rod for holding the rails.

The holding means may be quickly and easily adjusted at any time withoutdisturbing the parts or displacing any portion of the roadbed orballast.

All of the operating parts being above the ground are not afiected bymoisture or otherwise deteriorated by any substances therein.

Suitable lock-nuts or jam-nuts 29 30 are arranged on the rod 27 and bearagainst the blocks 21 22 to prevent accidental loosening or displacementof the rod 27. A detachable shield 31 is also provided for protectingthe rod 27 and blocks 21 22 from the elements.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. Arailway-tie, comprising a body portion provided with upwardly-extendinglongitudinally-grooved ribs along its sides and with spaced railreceiving recesses transversely through said ribs, clamp-blocks disposedbetween said spaced ribs and between said rail-receiving recesses andprovided with pins for slidably engaging said longitudinal grooves, saidblocks bearing against the rails and having reversely-threaded openings,and a threaded rod disposed between the blocks and engaging in saidopenings.

2. A railwaytie comprising a body portion provided withupwardly-extending longitudinallvgrooved ribs along its sides and withspaced rail receiving recesses transversely through said ribs and withthe ribs undercut at the outer ends of the recesses for overlapping thefeet of the rails, clamp-blocks slidably disposed between said spacedribs and having pins engaging the grooves, said blocks overlapping thefeet of the rails and bearing against the vertical webs thereof, saidblocks having reversely-threaded openings, and a threaded rod extendingbetween the blocks and engaging in said openings.

3. A railway-tie comprising a body portion provided withupwardly-extending lon- WILLIAM WILBURT FOWLER.

Witnesses:

LEANDER 0. Close, BERNARD F. MCCOY.

